Police are investigating a bus driver's claim that he was driven off a major highway in New York before his bus slid into a signpost that sheared it end to end, killing 14 people and leaving others maimed. The driver, Ophadell Williams, told police that a tractor-trailer clipped his World Wide Tours bus just as it crossed the city line on a trip from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.

Hats worn by emergency crew and a list of the 10 people who lost their lives in the Selby railway disaster on display at a memorial service yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy at St Paul's church, Hensall, Yorkshire. Gary Hart's Land Rover plunged off the M62 motorway on to the East Coast main line in 2001, colliding with a London-bound train.

In her preface to this exegesis of Homer's Iliad, Caroline Alexander notes that the recent killing of US Rangers in Mogadishu and the dragging of their bodies behind Jeeps through the streets echoes the fate of Hector at the hands of Achilles. Her thesis is that Homer's epic is of continuing relevance because war is a continuing fact of life; and, moreover, that Homer's poem does not celebrate war, but shows it for the tragedy it is.

Land Rover has announced a series of mid-life updates for its popular Freelander 2. A more powerful 190 horsepower diesel engine will be added to the range but the most surprising change is that the Freelander 2 will be available from January next year with a two-wheel drive (2WD) system, rather than the usual 4x4 transmission.